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My Encounter with Gooseberries - A Recipe & A Crime Scene

Thursday, 20 August 2009

I came across these hairy grapes lookalikes when I was browsing the local market in Cambridge. I was curious and bought a punnet to try. Oh my...they were mouth-puckeringly tart! They reminded me of redcurrants. I tricked the wild boar into eating one, he popped one into his mouth, gave me an evil glare, I quickly ran away and chuck the whole punnet into the freezer.

I learnt that these hairy berries were actually cooking gooseberries which are normally available early in the season (around June/ July). Later season dessert gooseberries (red, yellow or golden coloured) are sweeter. These berries are a good source of fibre and contain vitamins A, C and potassium. They are normally used to make desserts such as gooseberry fool, gooseberry crumble, gooseberry pie or you can make a sauce and serve it with mackerel, salmon, lamb or pork. Some recipes here. I decided to make some turnovers with the recipe girl's cream cheese crust - very delicious, a nice change to normal pastries. Another bookmarked recipe checked =)

Thawed frozen gooseberries. They were once plump and firm looking, got a bit mushy after freezing/ thawing.

We don't get goosberries over here, I remember being intrigued and trying them in Helsinki. I have a very strong memory of my mouth puckering to the point of implosion. Hehe - guess they were the cooking ones too! Maybe I'll just use blueberries for this recipe.

I have never seen or heard of these little guys, now I am curious about their flavor and texture.

I've also had several accidents when making empanadas (especially when I use berries as filling) What I recommend is mixing 1 teaspoon of corn starch in 1 or 2 teaspoons of water and adding it very slowly to your syrup when it is boiling. Mix very well and let it cool down completely before using it in the turnovers.

Sometimes it is not a question of sealing them well, some fillings are just too runny :D

I love gooseberries!! I never knew them before I discovered yoghurt with gooseberries. Totally fall in love with them ever since.But, there are difficult to source. I only see them at Borough market, where they sell them at a crazy price :(